Coating compositions (e.g. paints) can be formulated to provide, when cured, an opaque mar and/or scratch resistant coating. To provide an opaque coating with mar and/or scratch resistance, the coating composition is typically formulated with pigment particles, as well as anti-scratch agents such as, for example, metal oxide or ground glass particles. When the coating composition is stored in a container, over time the heavy and compact particles separate from the other components of the coating composition and settle on the bottom of the container to form a dense, hard cake layer. Before the coating composition can be applied to a surface, particularly if spray application is desired, the particles in the cake layer must be broken up, dispersed and re-suspended in the coating composition to form a substantially homogeneous solution. This re-suspension step requires extensive mechanical agitation and/or stirring, and can be particularly difficult if the coating composition is to be applied by spraying, or if a uniform, defect-free coating is desired.
The coating composition can be formulated with anti-settling agents to prevent or substantially reduce the settling of the scratch agent and pigment particles. However, incorporation of these anti-settling agents can cause an undesirable change in the viscosity of the coating composition, which can make application of the coating composition difficult.